Newly crowned Miss Pennsylvania, Valerie Gatto, is living proof that every child is a gift from God no matter how they were conceived.
LifeSiteNews.com is reporting on the story of Gatto who was in the third grad when she found out that she was conceived when her mother was raped at knifepoint at the age of 19. Her assailant said he was going to kill her, but a sudden bright flash of light startled him just long enough for Gatto’s mother to get up and run.
She managed to get away, but not long after this, she realized that she was pregnant with her attacker’s child. She kept the pregnancy a secret and planned to give the baby up for adoption, but she had a strong and faith-filled family who convinced her that God doesn’t give us anymore than we can handle. When Valerie was born, she decided to give up her plans to go to law school and raise the child herself.
Gatto grew up with her mother and maternal grandparents in a stable and loving home and never felt as though her mother regretted her decision to keep her. As a child, she accompanied her mother who was in charge of a food pantry while she delivered baskets of food to people in need. As a result, she grew up wanting to serve and became involved in a variety of projects such as clothing drives and giving gifts to hospitalized children, all of which she plans to continue after winning her state’s crown.
Raised in the faith, it remains a very important part of her life which she credits for helping her mother – and herself – to learn how to “turn a negative into a positive.”
In fact, she sees the hand of God in that bright flash of light that occurred just after her conception and that ultimately saved her mother’s life.
” . . . That light gave my mom the opportunity to run away and escape — and if that bright light didn’t appear, she would have been murdered,” Valerie told TribLive.
“I like to think of that light as my mother’s and (my) guardian angel. It was always turning a negative into a positive. That’s why I don’t think I let it affect me at a young age. She always would tell me I was her light — I am the light to illuminate the darkness for all to see, and I look at it from that moment of conception, there has been that light associated with darkness, and that’s what I hope to do with Miss Pennsylvania USA 2014.”
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